Anyone ever had to replace the handle on a Maytag MDBTT79AWW diswasher? It seems impossible to insert the tabs on the handle into the door latch assembly. I've read that these handles break frequently (who would use plastic tabs to hold the most utilized part on the machine?) so hopefully someone out there has the trick. Thanks.

With the old handle off, put the latch assy against the actuator and press it on. This will simulate a closed door. Then take chanel locks and squeeze from sides and press new handle in ,large tabs first then lift up to snap small tabs in.

Sorry to be so thick but I am not sure what you mean by the "acutator." I have the old handle off and it is easy to get the large tabs into place but the smaller tabs don't want to go into place. The handle is so flimsy that I am afraid to apply much force as I as sure the smaller tabs will break. I sure hope Whirlpool improves Maytag products as they have dramatically slipped in quality over the past few years and this handle assembly is a great example of that fact. Thanks for your help. I may just need to shell the $100 bucks and call the repair guy.

Dear Pegi, You seem to be wise in the ways of the Maytag. I have a similar model (MDB7600AWS) and similar problem (cruddy handle latch assembly) and have the part (99002577) yet cannot... you know, make it work! The small tabs go in easily enough, but I cannot manage the large tabs into the round holes they would appear to go in -- there's no give there whatsoever. The second perplexing problem is that while I can similate the closed and open states of the latch while seperated from the door, I cannot find the medium state that will enables me to both close and open it via the accuator. I tend the think this is related to a metal pin that seems to slide into place to near the spring. Yet for the life of me, I cannot slide it into place in the aforementioned open or close states without trapping it in that position. In other words, I can "pin it into place" with the spring fully depressed, preventing the latch from letting out again, or with the spring relaxed, at which point the pin blocks any of the movement of the assembly. Does that make any sense? It's been a long day wrestling with it and I fear I am not accurately describing the situation. Many, many thanks for any help you might provide.

Thanks for the kind words, but I have not had to do this, the fix was posted in another tech only forum. We will hope other techs in this forum have actually done this and can shed some light on a repair, that I understand, is very difficult even for the ones who deal with this all of the time.

the reply nonetheless. Was finally able to get it to go eventually. There was a metal tab – which I assume is there to complete the circuit that informs the washer if the door is open or closed – that was out of place. Figured out it where belonged and it all fell into place – including the handle, which snapped in just fine once everything was properly aligned.

I just ordered a door handle for my mdbh950aww dishwasher. I have read what you said about the process of installing it. I do not understand very well. The new handle seems different then the old one. I called maytag and they told me I have the correct door handle. I cannot seem to figure out how to get the bigger plastic tabs into the two holes on the side of the assembly. It really seems like the part is wrong. How do I attach this handle if it is the right part? I just spent 1 hour trying to do the impossible. To me it seems that the handle should snap right into the assembly. What am I doing wrong? Brad

Which is the lock part of the handle? It seems to be to big to snap into the side holes. I have no idea whay their are 2 metal small round hinges at each end of the door handle. These 2 pieces seem to fit nowhere. Agian, I have pulled the inside of the dishwasher door of twice and been perplexed at not being to just snap this handle into place. Can you help? Brad

I think the lock part Guru Pegi refers to is the accuator which is on the lip of the washer body -- not the door. The trick is to unscrew the assembly from the door and ignore the door entirely until you have reassembled the handle over the lock-accuator-hook thing attached to the roof of the washer. Place the latch assembly (part 99002580) over the lock thing, then put on the handle starting with the big holes. It doesn't seem like they'll go, but they will with some heavy duty squeezing of the plastic (I ended up using pliers to get plastic to bend) then the smaller clips will slide into the slot over the spring. The metal hinges you see aren't acutally hinges, just metal sticking out from the part that goes into the big holes -- which is the actual hinge the handle turns on.Once it's all clicked in place, you should be able to take it on and off the lock-hook thing by depressing the handle. Then it's ready to remount on the door.Tried to diagram it with some pix from repairclinic.com, hope it helps.